Congress and our--actually the drafters of our Constitution anticipated that the Congress would have a role in making or altering the laws of elections.

I also invite my Republican colleagues to work with us on these commonsense solutions.

part of the problem is we have converted political--political opponents into enemies and everything is a war.

We need to empower voters to challenge efforts in states to make sure that they are not undermining election results.

I think what you said is very important because what you said is consistent with everything I have read and heard about voter fraud across the country, and that is it is isolated.

We need both sides to come to the table, and I think the example of what happened in Kentucky... is a terrific example for us to follow.

I want to make it clear here and now on the record that I, for one, would be very willing and able to enter into constructive discussions with my Republican colleagues on what they would like in the bill.

Let's get rid of this idea that there is no role for Congress or the Federal Government in election laws.

I think that really, really makes a difference. And it was -- it was -- I guess you shouldn’t say shocking. It wasn’t really surprising. I didn’t expect to get those Republican votes. But to have them simply say, we just don’t want to have…

democracy itself is more important than any Senate rule.

It’s important to remember that most failures of democracy as we look at history, started with legitimate elections.

You can get 41 votes out of the current Senate, which was enough to block any legislation. And if you take the states that those 41 senators represent, add all the population together, you get 24 percent of the American people. So, the…

24 percent of the American people have an effective veto, over anything that 76 percent of the American people think is important public policy. I don’t think that squares the democratic theory.

When it comes to democracy itself, and that’s at what at risk, Rachel, I’ve never been worried about the future of my country, because we are headed for a place where people don’t trust elections.

We can’t let this wave of voter suppression, and the changing of the rules that you mentioned happen.

This is fragile, and we are in a very dangerous moment. This is the most dangerous moment I think since 1860 in terms of the future of the country.

The filibuster is not in the Constitution, we need to restore the Senate to what it was back when I worked there 40 years ago.

with regard to the comments of the esteemed Senator from Texas, I say to the Senator: I would suggest, if your colleagues are interested in election reform and election laws, that we have a dialogue and that we have some discussion. I…

the United States of America is an anomaly in world history. We are a 245-year experiment in self-government, which is based upon an idea that was radical in 1776. It was tested at Gettysburg, Antietam, Shiloh, and the Wilderness. It was…

Not to prolong the discussion, but Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution makes it abundantly clear that the responsibility for election administration is a joint one between the States and the Congress, and that the Congress, at any…

Your position on this bill is that it is basically a good bill but there are modifications the Department would like to see made, is that correct?

I will look forward to working with you over the next several weeks to define the word 'eager.'

You have a statute over here that has been in place for years on oil and gas revenues. You have a new set of revenues and you are saying, well, we are just not going to talk about that.

It just seems to me it is cart before the horse to be talking about a vast expansion of offshore wind without talking about where the revenues are going to go.

But everything you just said would lead me to believe that that money should flow through the coastal states where that kind of work would take place.